Shloka 9
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 3 — Sātyaki on Inner Disposition, Legitimacy, and Coercive Readiness
वनवासाद् विमुक्तस्तु प्राप्त: पैतामहं पदम् । यद्ययं पापवित्तानि कामयेत युधिषछ्िर:
vanavāsād vimuktas tu prāptaḥ paitāmahaṁ padam | yady ayaṁ pāpavittāni kāmayeta yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
Von den Mühen des Waldexils befreit, hat Yudhiṣṭhira nun die angestammte Stellung der Ahnenherrschaft erreicht. Doch sollte er nach Reichtum verlangen, der auf sündigem Wege gewonnen ist, wäre das eine schwere sittliche Umkehr, die die Rechtschaffenheit selbst in Zweifel zöge, welche seinen Anspruch auf die Herrschaft legitimiert.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one has a rightful claim and has endured suffering for dharma, the desire for wealth obtained through wrongdoing undermines moral authority; legitimate rule must be grounded in righteous means, not merely inherited position.
Vaiśampāyana comments on Yudhiṣṭhira’s situation after the forest-exile: he has reached the status associated with his forefathers, but the verse raises a moral concern—what if he were to seek ‘sinful wealth,’ contradicting his dharmic identity.